It is a striking image: standing behind the lectern set up in the Oval Office on Tuesday, September 30, where Donald Trump was about to speak to make a "major announcement," were Albert Bourla, Pfizer's CEO and the driving force behind the pharmaceutical giant's enormous success in Covid-19 vaccine sales, and US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who is well-known for his vaccine skepticism and is arguably one of the manufacturer's fiercest critics.

The two men carefully avoided eye contact during the fifty-eight-minute press conference, except for their brief moments at the podium. "Albert and I have had a long history of antipathy and antagonism toward each other. But I have to say, his leadership in this took tremendous courage," Kennedy acknowledged.

Courage, yes, but above all an avalanche of threats to twist his arm. Like its peers in the drug industry, the New York-based pharmaceutical giant certainly never imagined one day finding itself at the White House to announce sweeping price cuts on its medications in the United States – by far its most lucrative market. Yet that was precisely the substance of the agreement sealed on September 30 with Washington, hailed as a "huge" victory by the US president and his administration.

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